The construction of national narratives and politics of memory in the Central and Eastern European region after 1989

Santrauka:

Up until quite recently, the destiny of Central Eastern Europe appeared to be completely clear. Once Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, the huge space between the East and the West seemed to shift to a plain of placid development. During the last century, the countries between the Baltic and Black seas have had to endure all manner of trials, starting from acting as a World War One frontline, riding the wave of national socialism, ending with Soviet occupation and its direct influence for decades thereafter. The collapse of Communism and totalitarianism diverted this dramatic period in history towards a hopeful, promising conclusion. The first decade of freedom and democracy was marked by the belief that conflicts of the past, processes of national maturity that had crystallized in various ways, traumas and phobias would be left behind, and that politics would turn to the future. However, the reality proved to be more treacherous than expected, and the memory of Central Eastern Europe – harder to manage. Accounts of the past and arguments over what was the one, single truth remain. The united Europe, most likely, was not prepared to face the split memory phenomenon. General images of liberal democracy and a free market economy did not suffice. It appears that the eastern border of the EU is finding it hard to come to terms with its memory; those in the west are incapable of understanding it, whilst those in the east did not have enough collective empathy to understand why it is so. [...]